Thailand ranked 80 out of 139 countries on rule of law, dropping two positions

“With negative trends in so many countries, this year’s WJP Rule of Law Index should be a wake up call for us all.” said WJP Co-Founder and CEO Bill Neukom. “Rule of Law is the very foundation of communities of justice, opportunity and peace. Reinforcing that foundation should be a top priority for the coming period of recovery from the pandemic.”

The WJP Rule of Law Index® is an annual report based on national surveys of more than 138,000 households and 4,200 legal practitioners and experts around the world. The WJP’s framework for the rule of law covers eight factors:

Constraints on Government Powers, Absence of Corruption, Open Government, Fundamental Rights, Order and Security, Regulatory Enforcement, Civil Justice, and Criminal Justice.

Rule of Law in Thailand

Thailand’s overall rule of law score decreased 2.2% in this year’s Index. At 80th place out of 139 countries and jurisdictions worldwide, Thailand fell two positions in global rank. Thailand’s score places it at 10 out of 15 countries in the East Asia and Pacific region* and 22 out of 40 among upper-middle-income** countries.

Regionally, East Asia and Pacific’s top performer in the Index is New Zealand (7th out of 139 countries globally), followed by Australia and Japan. The three countries with the lowest scores in the region were the Philippines, Myanmar, and Cambodia (138th out of 139 countries globally).

In the last year, 11 out of 15 countries declined in East Asia and the Pacific. Of those 11 countries, 5 had also declined in the previous year.

Rule of Law Around the World

The 2021 Index shows that globally more countries declined than improved in overall rule of law performance for the fourth consecutive year.

In a year dominated by the global COVID-19 pandemic, 74.2% of countries covered experienced declines in rule of law performance, while 25.8% improved. The 74.2% of countries that experienced declines this year account for 84.7% of the world’s population, or approximately 6.5 billion people.

The declines were widespread and seen in all corners of the world. For the second year in a row, in every region, a majority of countries slipped backward or remained unchanged in their overall rule of law performance.

Over the past year, 82% of countries in the Index experienced a decline in at least one dimension of civic space (civic participation, freedom of opinion and expression, and freedom of assembly and association) and 94% of countries in the Index experienced increased delays in administrative, civil, or criminal proceedings.

The top three performers this year were Denmark, Norway, and Finland. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Cambodia, and Venezuela, RB had the lowest overall rule of law scores.

The countries with the biggest improvement in rule of law in the past year were Uzbekistan (4.1%), Moldova (3.2%), and Mongolia (2.0%). The countries with the biggest decline in rule of law in the past year were Belarus (-7.5%) and Myanmar (-6.3%). Nigeria, Nicaragua, Kyrgyz Republic, and Argentina tie for the third biggest decline (-3.7%).


*Countries and jurisdictions measured in the East Asia and Pacific region: Australia; Cambodia; China; Hong Kong SAR, China; Indonesia; Japan; Korea, Rep.; Malaysia; Mongolia; Myanmar; New Zealand; Philippines; Singapore; Thailand; Vietnam

**Upper-middle income countries and jurisdictions: Albania; Argentina; Belarus; Belize; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Bulgaria; China; Colombia; Costa Rica; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Ecuador; Georgia; Grenada; Guatemala; Guyana; Indonesia; Iran, Islamic Rep.; Jamaica; Jordan; Kazakhstan; Kosovo; Lebanon; Malaysia; Mexico; Namibia; North Macedonia; Paraguay; Peru; Russian Federation; Serbia; South Africa; St. Lucia; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname; Thailand; Turkey; Venezuela, RB